Word: argentinas
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...Athens that night the direction of American basketball changed, perhaps permanently. Argentina humbled the United States, 89-81, in the Olympic semi-finals and the world took pleasure in America's demise. Then, the U.S. decided to develop a true national team, with the emphasis on team. And on Friday night in Beijing, there would be no repeat of the Athens disaster against Argentina. The U.S. cruised to a 101-81 victory, Argentina just another annoyance on the road to a gold medal that seems as predictable as a Phelps world record...
...There's a common misperception that the so-called "finesse" teams, the squads with great technical precision like Argentina, can't play rough. But international hoops is actually much more physical than the NBA. The refs let more go; in the NBA, every hand check is a federal offense. So Argentina's strategy was clear: knock the Americans to the floor early and often. In the first quarter, Argentina's Luis Scola, a 6-ft, 9-in. 230 lb. center, gave America's Dwight Howard a good tug. The 6-ft,. 11-in., 265 lb. Howard makes Mr. Universe look...
...Argentina. The U.S. opened the game with a 30-9 run over the first 10 minutes, moving the ball crisply around Argentina's zone, and finding open shooters in the corner of the court. Argentina's best player, San Antonio Spurs star guard Manu Ginobili, re-injured his left ankle, and had to leave the game, making Argentina's already long odds even longer...
...Still, in the second quarter, Argentina rallied with some spot-up shooting; it helped them that Bryant jacked a couple of brick threes early in the U.S. possession, a somewhat annoying habit that could bite the Yanks in the final (Bryant had another bad three-point shooting night, as he missed seven of his nine attempts, though that's clearly nit-picking when a team is blasting its opponents by an average of 30.3 points in the Olympic tournament...
...Argentina actually pulled within six, when Anthony launched a desperation three pointer ahead of the halftime buzzer. Juan Pedro Llanas Gutierrez blocked it, and it looked as if we had a game here. But wait, a whistle? The ref wanted to pull the tweeter out now and kill Argentina's momentum? It was a terrible call, and it meant three shots for 'Melo. He sank them all, giving the U.S. that tiny bit of comfort it carried into the third quarter. Game over...